Forces
by bluegoldrose
Summary: A letter from Sara is the catalyst that causes all of the CSI's to think about where they are and want to be in life, and in that process they find themselves and eachother. [bad summary] [team friendship!]
1. Chapter 1

_If I could fall in love again I would try. I suppose that I have tried, but I've always failed.If you want to try and save me go ahead, I'm waiting for you. I need help, I know that much. I know that you're very willing to love me sometimes, but right now I need something. I don't know what that something is, but I need to find it so that I can find myself..._

_Try to help me,_

_Sara_

In life there are forces that bind us all together, forces that no one understands. Love is one such thing, and although we don't understand it we want to try. Sara left on a Monday, and I left the next day to try and find her, but I didn't know where to find her, so I just kept looking.

**No one understood why Nick felt the sudden impulse to go searching for Sara, after all she had adressed the letter to Grissom, but he had left in on the break room table where each of us read it. I think that each of us took it differently. Maybe we all needed to leave and find ourselves, I know that I did. I needed to think of where I stood in life, so I left the day after Nick did.**

I didn't get Warrick, leaving, but I guess his note explained it to us. I thought about it for awhile, and I think that I need to leave as well, we all do I guess, we need to find ourselves. Sometimes work just gets to you and you feel like running away into the night and leaving everything behind. That's another one of those forces that no one understands, the need to leave everything sometimes. So that's what I'm doing now, I'm leaving everyone to find out who I am.

I may return some day... I hope...

_**Sara, Nick, Warrick, and Greg, they each left ona jorney to find themselves. I needed to as well, but I had my daughter to think of. It was summer though, so I asked her what she thought of a roadtrip to anywhere we want to go. She agreed to it, so we left three days after Greg. I don't know what we'll find out there, but that's part of the adventure.**_

_Suddenly I was alone at work and I realized that I had nothing. I realized that that was my entire life, nothing. I never had anyone else there to talk to me or to be with me. I had sealed myself into a box and I never allowed anyone else in. It was a force of nature and I needed to be loved, the need of other people, that was a force of nature._

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TBC...(if anyone reviews) 


	2. Chapter 2

Sara enjoyed being alone sometimes, and just then was one of those times, she had found a place in Yellowstone National Park where she could just relax and be alone with nature. The need to be alone was a force of nature, and she was enjoying every moment of it. She leaned against the concrete wall that was the barrier of the waterfall overlook, she knew that there were other people in the park, but right then she felt like she was alone, and in many ways she enjoyed it.

She was glad that her cellphone had no reception in the park, her friends and her job in general had been trying to reach her ever since she had left, they didn't realize that she just needed to get away. Like the song said, 'Sometimes you want to run away, you got to get away….' And that's all that she needed, to get away for awhile.

She heard the footsteps of someone else approaching from behind her; not that it was unusual for other people to do that in the park. She turned around out of the vague curiosity to see the other person, and she was totally shocked. She ran into the arms of her friend and hugged him tightly.

"You found me, how," she exclaimed.

"I didn't expect to see you here, are you happy to see me?"

"Yes, of course. Why did you leave work?"

"When I read your letter I started thinking that I didn't really know who I was and that I needed to go as well to find myself. I wasn't expecting to see you, but I'm glad that I did."

"So am I, and just a moment ago I was happy to be alone. So when did you leave?"

"Two days after you did, the day after Nick."

"Wait, Nicky left too?"

"Yeah, he didn't really say why, he just decided to go and look for you, he said basically what I did, that he needed to find himself."

"So wait, half of graveyard is just gone?"

"Yeah."

"Well I'm on vacation time, so I won't get in trouble, I don't know about the rest of you."

"I went on vacation time as well, two weeks worth."

"So you've already spent a week of it. Well we can spend the rest of your week together, how does that sound Warrick?"

"That's sounds like fun Sara."

So they went through the park together that day, and they found a place to sleep in their cars that night, since there are no nearby hotels and the campgrounds in the park are always at capacity.

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In all the time he had lived in Las Vegas he had never bothered to visit the Grand Canyon, and it was only a few hours away, so he went to see it first thing after he left. He decided that he enjoyed the rugged beauty of the stony precipices, in fact he thought that it was one of the coolest things he had ever seen. Nature itself was a force, a force that people seldom can understand or stand against.

Grissom had realized that life was far too important to continue wasting it like he had been the quote "Life's too short to deprive yourself of the simple pleasures" rang through his head very clearly, and it was very true for him. His entire life had been spent trying to bring justice through science, and although he had helped put many criminals behind prison bars, he hadn't ever lived. That's why he hadn't answered his cellphone, although his job kept calling for him, this time he refused to answer, his job had already consumed most of his life, and he was leaving it for good.

After he was finished looking at the canyon, he got in his car and he drove.

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Nick wasn't certain of where he should drive; mostly he was looking for Sara, but other than that he was just driving. After he drove to San Francisco he decided to drive back straight to the East Coast, and from there maybe to New York City. While he was stopped in Denver, Colorado he saw someone that was familiar to him, he wasn't certain if it was her or not, so he watched for awhile before he came up to her.

"Catherine," he asked.

She turned around and looked at him, first in surprise and then with joy. "Nick, I never thought I'd see you out here. Where did you go?"

"Well, I went to San Francisco, and now I think I'm going to head to New York City. What are you doing here, and where's Lindsey?"

"I decided to follow suit and to go find myself. Lindsey is in the restroom."

"Follow suit, how many of you left?"

"Warrick left after you, and I left after Greg."

"So Grissom's the only nightshift member there?"

"I don't know. I tried to get him on his cell after I left, but he didn't answer. Work keeps trying to reach me, but I haven't picked up."

"The same has been happening to me as well, and I haven't picked up either. We probably should though."

"Yeah."

At that moment Nick's phone began to ring, the pair exchanged glances, and he decided to answer it. The lab director yelled at him that no one from his shift was answering and that if he didn't get there soon his job was gone. Nick managed to agree to return to work as quickly as possible and he said that he would try to get the others to return as well.

"Well, it looks like there is no night shift back at the lab."

"You're kidding."

"No I'm not, well so much for going to New York, I'm heading back to Vegas, please come with me."

"I'll," Catherine started, but then her phone rang. As she was talking Lindsey came out and she stood next to her mom after saying hi to Nick. Grudgingly Catherine agreed to return to work. Lindsey was somewhat disappointed over having to return, but still the two friends were glad to have met up with one another, it was going to make the rather disappointing return home more enjoyable. They both learned another important force of life; work is necessary, even if you don't want to do it.

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Greg was enjoying his time cruising through the mountains of California in his car with his music set to a rather high level. The windows were down and his hair was flying wildly in the wind, he was enjoying it immensely. He only heard his cellphone ring when he was at a rest stop to use the facilities, he was very disappointed with having to return to work, but since he liked to have income, he relented and he went. That day he learned another force of life; it's always good to be the one in control, that way you can tell people to stop joy riding and return to work.

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_TBC…_

_I hope that this chapter didn't disappoint after such an astonishing start, but I had to be realistic (somewhat) they needed to go back to work. This story will not ship anyone, it is just about team friendship (sorry for those who wanted shipping) I will continue this story when I'm off hiatus, which will be eventually : )_

_For those who are curious as to why Warrick and Sara are staying in their cars instead of in a hotel or something, it's simple, there are no places to stay near Yellowstone National Park, it's in the middle of nowhere! And without reservations to stay in the park, the only place to stay is in your car, I've done it : )_

_Thank you, Csifreak04, SidleGirl21, csijunky05, Sugar Pill, MC New York, CSIFan4Life, spooky-phoenix for your nice reviews!_


	3. Chapter 3

"Where do you think the others are," Greg asked Nick and Catherine as they were working the next day.

"I don't know," Catherine answered. "I tried all three of their cells, but I got no answer." She looked to Nick who just shook his head.

"I just don't get it though, why aren't they responding," Nick said. "Unless of course they can't get signal, which…" Nick stopped speaking and answered his phone, he smiled when he heard the voice on the other end.

"Hey Nick, its Warrick."

"Warrick! Where have you been! We've been starting to worry!" The other two smiled.

"I was just out driving and I decided to go up to the mountains for awhile, plus I'm on vacation, it was approved before I left. Unlike you, which reminds me, what happened with you?"

"I was worried about Sara, so I left to find her, but I was called back to work."

"Well you didn't do that good of a job finding her."

"What do you mean?"

"She's standing right here next to me, we met up in Yellowstone. Here, I'll let her talk to you."

"Hey Nick, I heard you went searching for me."

"Yeah, I was worried, how are you?"

"I'm fine. You know, I did request three weeks of vacation, you shouldn't worry about me so much."

"Sorry, that's what friends are for."

"I know, I think it's sweet actually," she said with a smile.

"You know what, Greg wants to talk to you, and so does Cath, so I'm going to put this on speaker phone alright?"

"Alright, I'll do the same."

"Sara, it's Greg, we've been worried about you, you too Warrick, where are the two of you, and have you talked to Grissom?"

"Um, we're in Denver right now," Warrick answered. "Why do you need to know where Grissom is?"

Catherine spoke up first, "He left after I did, you see, we all left the lab. Nick, Greg, and I were the only three they could reach, and they told us to come back. We've been trying to reach the three of you, but this is the first we've gotten through to anyone. We don't know what's up with Grissom. This isn't like him at all."

Sara gave Warrick a worried look, and then she said, "I'll call him and see if he answers. I don't know what else to say though, he is an adult who can take care of himself, maybe he just needed to go and figure something out. We'll be back at the end of the week, when our vacations are up, we'll try to find him, just try to hold things down until then I guess."

Then they all said good bye.

Meanwhile, Grissom was driving through the deserts of the southwestern United States, and into the hot and humid southern states. He was experiencing more in a few days than he had in nearly fifty years of life. He figured that he might return to Vegas after going to all the forty-eight contiguous states, but then several things happened to change his mind.

While he was stopped at a diner, he decided to listen to his voice mail, but hearing the concerned voices of his friends for the first time in over a week weakened his resolve, in fact it made him second guess everything. His final message was from Sara, for some reason it meant more to him than the rest, not because he cared about her more, but because there was something unique about her, she was so vibrant, yet so fragile at the same time.

"_Hey Grissom it's Sara, whenever you get this, I just want you to know that Warrick and I are looking for you and we are worried, not just concerned (as you once said about me). The rest of the lab is worried to. We miss you and your knowledge. I understand wanting to get out and see other things, but it may be time to come home, exploration can happen another time all right. Well, I hope that you'll respond, or just return. Bye."_

Part of him protested that if he left he would never explore the world again, but then he looked up at the television monitor, and he saw the news that was on it. A hurricane named Katrina had just destroyed several US cities in the Gulf of Mexico, one was Biloxi Mississippi, and another was New Orleans Louisiana. Many were dead and even more were homeless. This was a time to be with people who mattered, his friends, who were the only family he really had. So he left for Las Vegas.

_Thank you for your reviews: Icklebitodd, csifreak04, CSIFan4Life_


	4. Chapter 4

When Grissom entered the lab, he carefully avoided being seen by anyone who was in charge over him. He had called in and told his bosses that he was coming back, and he made amends for his absence, but he still didn't want to be yelled at. When he got to the break room he saw that his team was sitting in there discussing a case. He hadn't called them, so they didn't know where he was still. He smiled slightly, and then he stood in the doorway.

At first he waited to see if anyone would turn his direction, and sure enough, Greg did. "Grissom," was all that Greg could say, which caused the rest of them to turn. When they realized that he was there, they all rushed to him asking him questions and being thankful that he had returned.

After a few moments of excitement, they sat down again, and started to talk.

"What happened," Catherine questioned.

"When everyone left," began Grissom. "I started to realize that I had never experienced much in my life. So I decided that I needed to find life. I traveled to a few different states, and I saw some amazing things, but then I realized that they weren't what I needed. How about the rest of you."

"That's not fair," Nick complained. "You didn't tell us what it is you needed."

"I'll tell you once everyone else tells what they found."

"I found that the world out there is larger and smaller than we think it is," Warrick said.

"I found that spending time with family is important," Catherine added.

"I found that knowing your way is a good thing," Greg replied.

"I found that no matter where you go, someone will always be there for you," Sara stated.

"I guess I found that people are pretty much the same, no matter where you are," Nick answered.

"Now Grissom, tell us what you found out," Sara questioned.

"I learned that friends are the most important thing, because without them, without the people who you call your true family, the people who will never leave you, you're nothing. That's what I learned."

With a smile and a nod, they all agreed.

THE END

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Thank you for reading this story, I'm sorry for the wait, but I hope it was worth it.

Thanks for you reviews! CSIFan4Life, fredchester, csifreak04 , icklebitodd


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